Cryptozoology of Nippon
One of the reasons Nippon is such a secretive country might be caused by the abundance of creatures populating its every forest and lake. Jinmenju The Jinmenju is a large tree growing in the middle of Nipponese forests. However, he can't be recognized until the beginning of the summer, as his flesh-colored flowers turn into laughing human heads. The head-fruits smile and laugh until the middle of autumn, when they detach themselves from the branches and fall to the ground, still laughing. The heads cannot speak but it is said they can communicate by telepathy with passerbyes and try to make them laugh. The heads are fully functional with a mouth, eyes, nose and ears and some people even pretend that a Jinmenju fruit taken when ripe could be placed on a beheaded body and become a normal human. There are also people who pretend the Jinmenju fruit is edible and tastes delicious. Who knows? Jorōgumo The Jorōgumo is a half-woman, half-spider being who lives in the most recluse areas of Nippon. The Jorōgumos are said to live near waterfalls where they wait for passerbyes and seduce them, only showing their half-woman body out of the water. Once the poor soul approaches the water, she uses her silk to capture her prey and wrap it in the giant cobweb hidden behind the waterfall. The Jorōgumos sometime mate with their prey but it is more common to be eaten by them. There is no male Jorōgumos: if one of them is born, he is killed and consumed by his mother as soon as she realizes his gender. Kappa Kappas are mischevious water creature, humanoid in appearance, about the size of a human child. Their skin has reptilian scales and ranges from yellow to blue, depending on their living area. They wear a lilypad bowl on their head, always filled with the water of the pond or river they live in. There are several breeds of Kappas, including a hair-covered one called the Hyōsube. They are said to live in ponds and rivers, pranking people who happen to walk by. Some Kappas are childish in their behavior and their pranks are relatively innocent; however, some of them go as far as kidnapping children and eating them or raping women. Kappas are obsessively polite creatures and a way to escape them is to take a deep bow. A Kappa is then forced to respond and by bowing, his bowl empties itself. The creature can't move until the bowl is either refilled by natural means or by a human. In the latter case, the Kappa is so grateful that he will become the servant of the human who helped him. Some Nipponese cultivate cucumbers especially for the Kappas and throw them in the water points to gain protection against the creatures, as cucumbers are the favorite food of Kappas after human children. Namazu The Namazu is a mythic giant cat-fish creature that causes earthquakes and tsunamis in Nippon. He is said to live beneath the earth in a muddy lake where he is held captive by the god Kashima, the guardian of the Namazu. When Kashima isn't careful, the Namazu tries to escape and his trashing causes the ground above the lake to shake violently, causing earthquakes. Nipponese are taught to pray to Kashima when they sense little tremors so the god will hear them and return to restrain the Namazu. Ningyo The Ningyos are magical fishes with a human face and a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. Their scales are either red or gold and they can be male or female. Fishermen are warned that catching a Ningyo will cause them misfortune and most of them will throw them back into the sea. But legends say that eating the flesh of a Ningyo will give the eater eternal life and youth and some people would pay a fortune for such an opportunity. Fortunately, Ningyos are rare to come by and they are smarter than the fishes they share the body of so they rarely bite at fishermen's baits. Obake Obakes are shapeshifting little spirits who take the appearance of various animals and objects to cause trouble to humans. They aren't dangerous but they are surely annoying and it is hard to get rid of them. They are often found disguised as pets, common household objects or even plants and await night to prank the owners of the house. They may make loud noises, sing, curse or move things around. Some Obakes are stronger than others and possess powers such as creating floating fireballs or reanimating corpses by jumping over them three times. Obakes disguised as objects will often misfunction: a pair of boots might make you walk in the opposite direction and an oven could froze your food instead of baking it. To kill an Obake, you need to burn its form in a closed area and stab the spirit in its original form, which ressembles that of a small disfigured human, before it can change form again. Ryū The Ryūs are Nipponese dragons. They are the emblem of the country and said to be the most powerful creatures in existence. Nipponese people worship the Ryūs like gods and disrespecting a Ryū is a crime punishable by the law. There are several temples dedicated to the Ryūs and even a festival which happens on the second Monday of January and lasts for a week. Tengu The Tengus are bird-like spirits. They are known to be wise and protective of their territory. However, humans should not let themselves be fooled by a Tengu, as they are known to be demons. While they give the best advices to people they take a liking to and protect the houses of thes ones who make him offerings, it has been proved that a Tengu can cause a lot of trouble to humans. ::::::::: They enjoy punishing the most arrogant people, annoying the powerful ones and rewarding the humblest citizens. Tengus being bird-like creatures, they hatch from enormous eggs and build nests in the trees of most Nipponese forests. Some cases of dementia have been attributed to Tengus, who sometimes kidnap their victims and abandon them in the forests without much memories of what happened. However, Tengus are extremely friendly to children and the innocent people and it is said that if one with a pure heart would be lost in the forest, A Tengu would guide him back home safely. Yūrei Yūrei roughtly means "ghost" and while ghosts are commons in other countries than Nippon, the Nipponese Yūrei are particular. They are divised in multiple categories depending on the way they died. Onryō are vengeful spirits who come back from the death to take revenge on the living. Ubume are women who died in childbirth or leaving their children behind, they come back to take care of their children and are often aggressive toward the new family taking care of them. Goryō are aristocratic ghosts and Funayūrei are people who died at sea; Zashiki-warashi are ghosts of children and are more bothering than dangerous. Most of those Yūreis haunt a particular person or a specific place. They can be found following their murderer or a loved one or wandering around the building they died in. They appear at night, usually between 2AM and 3AM -the Nipponese witching hour- and don't leave until their purpose is fulfilled. The best way to get rid of a Yūrei is to help it find peace: Ubume can ask to the new family to prove their children are well cared for and Goryō could ask for their wealth to be given to the right person. However, Onryō are extremely difficult to exorcist as they keep seeking vengeance even when their murderer has been brought to justice. They are the most dangerous spirits and are known to attack random people who come in contact with them, whether they are involved in the story or not. More dangers in Nippon There is a few more creatures in Nippon that people have stopped being scared of and/or interested in. The citizens often leave offerings for them as they do for the majority of their beasts and entities, but they know how to avoid trouble with them. The Kodamas are tree spirits, simply protecting the forests. They love eating berries and prances around their home tree. They are extremely shy with humans and hide when any of them come near their trees. They might seem like innocent creatures but if someone dare harming their trees, they will attack the responsible and harm him in the manner he harmed their home. Don't ever dare carve your lover's name in the bark of a Kodama's tree as you might end up with a Kodama's curse carved into your forehead. The Akatekos are strange children's hands reaching down from trees. They are bright red and usually try to grab passerbyes' hair. When they succeed, they like to pull until they rip out strands of hair. Giggling can be heard between the leaves but if someone would try to find the mischievious child hidden in the branches, they would find nothing. People say that Akatekos are created when lost children die in the woods. The Uma-no-Ashis and the Sagaris are very peculiar sightings. Even Nipponese citizens don't exactly know what they really are. A Uma-no-Ashi is a pair of horse's hind legs dangling from trees and kicking people as they walk by. A Sagari is the horse's head popping out of the tree's leaves, associated with the Uma-no-Ashi. People who have encountered them said that feeding an apple or a carrot to the Sagari can prevent the Uma-no-Ashi from kicking you. Category:Cryptozoology